i know that on the JPX, if you don't give it a good pull on the starter, you won't see a spark. if you slowly pull it over, there won't be a spark. I can't speak for the 185's tho, maybe their ignition is stronger...

It's not advisable to use sand paper on points, or any switch type contact. Although the contacts will look clean and work better afterwards, grit pieces from the sand paper can become embedded into the metal. It can cause them to become unreliable in short order! Always use a file to clean contacts. Electrical supply houses usually sell special files and diamond files that will do a much better job of cleaning contacts. Auto supply shops also sell small files just for this purpose, but the ones they sell now a days seem pretty poor quality.

I built my own points test light for setting the timing 25 years ago. Someone came out with a very inexpensive one after I built mine. I liked it better because it had a little speaker in it, and it made it easier to use than mine that you had to watch for the light while also trying to look at the engine. You might check out the small engine repair shops online. Actually, you probably can do it with a modern digital ohmmeter, as they can see the small change in resistance when the points open, even though the low resistance mag coil shunts the points. Even a very cheap digital meter should work, I would think. Can someone else confirm this?

California Power Systems sells a timing kit, and the 18mm spark plug hole adapter for their kit that should work. Being really cheap, I made my own by taking an old 18mm spark plug and gutting it, drilled and tapped it for a long setscrew, and used it as the mount for a dial indicator I all ready had. CPS has a write up on setting the points in a big Rotax in all of their catalogs (probably online too), but it should help you understand how to set the points in the little Rotax a little better.

OK, I have the timing figured out......the meter was just to indicate when the points make contact, and the .17" is the distance of the piston from the top of its stroke, in the compression portion......cool...and easy.

I have a Vernier with a long shaft out the end when you open it .....works perfect for this purpose.

As a side note....almost had a setback.

The left engine starter cord was not retracting the line very well, and on one run the cord was dangling about a foot and slowly retracting through engine vibration.

But when I reved the engine the handle blew back in the blast and then swung all the way forward into the prop....whack.....and then wraped itself firmly around the prop shaft.

Its a good thing I saw what was happening and hit the kill switch early in this cycle of events.....no damage to the prop....but I did replace the cord...it got frayed....and tightened up the recoil spring.

Moral of that story is never let go of the start cord until its fully retracted.

Almost had to buy some Prince P-tip props

The engines are almost broken in now.....about another hour to go, and they will be all set.....the engines feel powerfull and reliable with a nice solid idle, and restart very easy.

I pulled a spark plug and see that its black and sooty......that seems to be to rich in mixture, or is that normal.

I use 91 octane unlead car pump fuel and some lead substitute product along with the 30:1 oil mix.

What sort of fuel is everyone else using?

<H5>Nothing is impossible...Even the word tells you Im-Possible!!!</ H5>

HA, I can relate! When I had just started flying my modified Pioneers with redrives I had about six feet of the right engine's starter spring slowly work out of the plastic housing! When I finally got on the ground I had the greasy spring tied in knots around the lift strut to keep it out of my new homemade prop that I had just spent a day making. That's the day I found I could hand prop my redrives to get the engines running if I had to.

Don't worry too much about running your engines somewhat rich to begin with. About the worst thing you can do to a 2-stroke engine is to run it too lean, especially when it's getting broken in! Do not fall into the trap of trying to transfer a good working knowledge of 4 stroke engine tuning to 2 strokes - THEY ARE DIFFERENT and must run richer than 4-strokes can if you want them to survive. Warm them up real well, tune for best RPM, then enrichen some. Shut down, let cool off. Start cold, warm up just a little (10-20 seconds) after getting off the choke, then try quickly advancing the throttle. If the engine falters, enrichen some more. A partially warmed up engine should be able to run up quickly when the throttle is quickly opened, otherwise it is too lean. You will need to play with the high and low speed needles as they interact.

And don't be surprised if, after getting them set up just perfect, a week later they will need readjusting - especially if the weather has changed!

Also, don't fall into the trap of trying to get more power by running with very low oil mixes (beyond 50:1, especially). Run the amount of oil the engine manufacturer specifies. The real hot rod types get the best power by running the most oil they can without fouling plugs and gunking everything up. The idea is to reduce the engine's internal friction as much as possible.

Penzoil sells a 2 stroke oil "for air cooled engines" that is just terrific, and keeps the innards amazingly clean too. Don't use their 2-stroke outboard motor oil though; they are not the same!

Ray - I went to mfgsupply and found this condensor. It doesn't look like the one in the 185. Did you have to modify it? Picture on their site shows 2 prongs on top and in the 185 is just 1 nutted tip. Thx